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Our Process

Not a straight line.
A continuous cycle.

Four phases, run together with you live in the meeting. Each cycle returns to Discovery from a higher vantage point, because life keeps moving, and the plan moves with it.

Possibilities always at the centre

GoalPlanningPossibilityPlanningDISCOVERYFacts · ExperienceSCENARIOSWants · VisionSOLUTIONSGoals · DecisionsACTIONTactics · Renewal

Each cycle doesn't just repeat — it compounds upward. Your life changes. You retire, sell a business, lose a spouse, discover that what you want at 70 looks different than what you imagined at 55. When that happens, we return to Discovery — and the process runs again from a higher vantage point.

A life well livedTime
Four Phases

What actually happens, in order.

01

Discovery

Facts · Experience

We learn what's true today, every asset, every income source, every constraint, and what you've learned about money along the way.

What happens

  • An open-ended conversation about what you actually want, for yourself, for your family, for the life you're building toward
  • A full inventory: accounts, pensions, debts, properties, business interests, insurance, expected inheritances
  • Cash flow today and projected through retirement
  • Tax history and current bracket realities
  • What's worked and what hasn't with previous advisors

What you walk away with

A complete picture of where you are, not a sales pitch, not a recommendation, just the map of the territory.

02

Scenarios

Wants · Vision

We explore what's possible, live, in the meeting, by adjusting one variable at a time. Retire at 62 vs. 65. Sell the cottage or keep it. Commute the pension or take it monthly.

What happens

  • We run the planning software with you watching, not behind closed doors
  • Each what-if is modeled in real time so you can see the trade-offs visually
  • Multiple scenarios sit side by side, five or six in a typical meeting is normal
  • You ask the questions. We adjust the model. The picture moves.
  • We map decisions across the full retirement horizon, 25, 30, sometimes 35 years

What you walk away with

The full landscape of what's possible for your situation. Not one projection, many. With the trade-offs visible.

03

Solutions

Goals · Decisions

Once you've seen the landscape, the right path becomes obvious. We choose it together and document the decisions.

What happens

  • The scenario you chose becomes the working plan
  • We write it down, every decision, every assumption, every trade-off you knowingly accepted
  • Tax sequence, withdrawal schedule, conversion timing, insurance coverage levels, all documented
  • Investment policy statement built around what the portfolio actually needs to do
  • Estate planning coordination with your lawyer if relevant

What you walk away with

A written plan you understand because you helped build it. Not a binder you'll never open, a document that reflects what you actually decided.

04

Action

Tactics · Renewal

We execute, investment allocations, tax sequencing, insurance, estate documents. Then we return to Discovery, because life changes.

What happens

  • Account openings, rollovers, RRIF conversions where needed
  • Portfolio implementation through Aligned Capital Partners with appropriate custody at CI Investment Services
  • Insurance policies put in place (life, disability, LTC as the plan calls for)
  • Tax filings coordinated with your accountant during the first year of execution
  • Annual review meetings, the cycle returns to Discovery from a higher vantage point

What you walk away with

The plan, executed. And a partnership that keeps adjusting as your life does.

The Scenarios We Actually Run

Examples from real meetings.

These are the what-ifs that come up most. Each one gets modeled live, side-by-side, until the right decision becomes the obvious one.

Retire at 62, 65, or 67?

Same couple, same money, three retirement ages. The chart shows lifetime cash, net worth at 85, and the size of the inheritance left. The right age usually isn't the one we expected when we started.

Commute the pension or take it monthly?

Two parallel plans modeled side by side. Health, longevity, spouse's situation, and assumed return on the commuted value all get adjusted live. The decision becomes obvious, and irreversible, so we run it carefully.

RRSP draw-down before age 71

We model the strategic RRSP drawdown schedule, typically over 5–15 years, that flattens lifetime tax, reduces eventual RRIF minimums, and protects OAS. Often the highest-impact move on the table.

Sell the cottage or keep it?

Tax implications, capital gains exposure, what the proceeds would fund vs. what the cottage costs annually to keep. The numbers usually surprise the family, in either direction.

Age-gap couple, two timelines

Two parallel income plans modeled across the same horizon. CPP timing for each, RRIF conversion ages staggered, survivor benefit decisions, what happens during the gap years between retirements.

Selling a business in the next 3–5 years

Pre-sale and post-sale modeled separately. LCGE optimization. How the proceeds integrate with retirement income. Timing the sale to coordinate with personal tax brackets.

In Their Own Words

What has been your experience, Pam?

Google4.910 reviews
“Allan was able to demonstrate many different retirement scenarios such as: taking CPP at 65 versus 60 or 70; what our investment income and net worth would be like at various rates of return; adjusting other variables such as our spending and travel budget.”
Jen Tindale · via Google
How It Compares

Scenario-based vs. traditional planning.

DimensionTraditional PlanningScenario-Based Planning
Starting pointAsks what you want, then builds a plan around the goal you statedShows what's possible first, then helps you choose from informed options
Number of paths consideredOne, the recommended planFive or six in a typical meeting; dozens over the engagement
Where the work happensBehind the scenes; you receive the outputIn the room with you; you watch the model adjust live
When trade-offs surfaceRarely, usually after a decision is implementedImmediately, every what-if shows the cost on the other side
When the plan gets updatedAnnual review of the original projectionEvery life event re-runs the cycle from Discovery at a higher vantage point
What you walk away understandingThe recommendationThe reasoning behind every decision, and the confidence that comes from seeing it yourself

Want to see this process run for you?

Start with the initial conversation. Everything else follows from there.

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Atlantis Financial Inc.

Scenario-Based Financial Planning · Virtual & In-Person

(705) 726-6884 · 1 (800) 842-1332

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